2 Convicted Of Kidnapping In Abduction Over Drug Debt

June 16, 1999

Two men were convicted Tuesday by a federal jury of resorting to kidnapping to collect drug debts.

The defendants, Misael Montenegro and Juan Perez, kidnapped two people, Margarito Soto and Jose Moreno, on the same day in May 1995 and blindfolded and beat them, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Zach Fardon. The kidnappers then left them for hours handcuffed in a Chicago warehouse.

The victims owed a combined $80,000 in drug debts to Montenegro, Fardon said.

Perez's lawyer, Ralph Meczyk, maintained that the kidnapping was a ruse and an attempt by Soto, Moreno and the defendants to get money from the families of the supposed victims.

Perez's brother, Jose Jesus Perez, was also charged with the kidnappings but remains a fugitive.